Whither Pakistan: Dictatorship Or Democracy?

In this anthology of her articles, Benazir Bhutto, the exiled 'Daughter of East'. comes out as the proud holder of South Asian heritage. She recalls the stories of the great Kings and rulers, that came down the centuries through the Khyber Pass in the North and Sindh in the South. She remembers the history that tells us of how rich South Asia once was, of its silks and spices, of its jewels and treasures that built the Taj Mahal, the Shalimar Gardens and the Grand Trunk Road. History lights the path for her to seek redemption by turning swords into ploughs to harvest a tomorrow that can bring light to lives now darkened in the night of misery This basic thrust of her creative thinking carries her towards the argument for a democratic Pakistan. In her view Pakistan was created as an expression of the free will of the Muslims of the Subcontinent as well as of the free will of the people of Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and the Frontier. She is convinced that only through this free will her country can be kept together in unity and strength, and not through the barrel of a gun. Therefore, according to the logic of this idea of free will, she says that the sooner we turn towards our survival, the sooner we turn towards the universal values to which we signed up at the United Nations in the Human Rights Declaration, and the sooner we can strengthen the foundations on which the Federation of one hundred and sixty million people rests. For her, the time is now.